People have lived in Bucheon for thousands of years. According to Three Kingdom Period literature, Bucheon was founded during the Goguryeo Dynasty. When Goguryeo began, Bucheon was called Jubuto (주부토). When the Goryeo Dynasty started, the king Taejo (Wang Geon, 왕건) renamed Bucheon Suju (수주).

In 1962, when President Park Chung-Hee started his five-year economic development project, Sosa-myeon (소사면) was renamed Bucheon City (부천시). Bucheon's borders of today were made in 1988. Sang-Dong and Jung-Dong neighborhoods were developed as New City areas in the 1990s.

Bucheon has the Bucheon International Film Festival (PiFAN) in the summer. It started in 1997 and it happens every year. The movies are comedy, romance, action, and fantasy. Bucheon also has a comic festival in the summer.

Bucheon has 62 elementary schools and 32 middle schools. There are also 27 high schools. Of the high schools, 20 are normal, two are all-girls schools, and five are special high schools.

Bucheon's five special high schools are:
1. Gyeonggi Art High School in Jung-Dong, Wonmi-Gu
2. Gyeonggi International Business High School in Jung-Dong, Wonmi-Gu
3. Bucheon Information Industry High School in Sang-Dong, Wonmi-Gu
4. Bucheon Technical High School in Sosa-Gu, and
5. Jeongmyeong Information Industry High School in Sosa-Gu

There are also many academies (hagwon) in Bucheon. They teach many subjects. They are for students from kindergarten to high school. Many academies are in Jung-Dong and Sang-Dong neighborhoods.

Bucheon has two subway lines (Line 1 and Line 7). There are 11 subway stations and one bus terminal (Sopoong). There are many local buses and intercity buses. In the early 1990s, Bucheon had very little public transportation. It has developed a lot in the past twenty years.

Wonmi District's major technology is the semiconductor. There are many other industries: Comics, packaging, lighting, and molding. Bucheon also is a center of robot research. Bucheon has 19 robot companies. There are only 100 robot companies in Korea.[1]